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shaista

shaista
parveen , bihar

Mid shot of Shaista Parveen (18) sitting in front of a desktop computer with her right hand on the mouse. The boxy monitor is pale grey and the keyboard and mouse are black. Shaista wears a peach full-sleeved kurta with delicate white embroidery. A navy blue dupatta is wound around her neck. Her long hair has a side parting. A tress of hair tied with a peach hair band falls over her right shoulder and down her chest. A pair of aluminium under-arm crutches leans against the pista green wall behind her.
Shaista stands in a corridor with a pair of under-arm aluminium crutches tucked under her armpits. She wears purplish black denim pants, peach kurta and navy blue dupatta. The bottom half of the corridor walls is painted emerald green and the top half is pista green. Long, tan-coloured, varnished wooden benches with back rest and arm rests have been placed alongside the walls of the corridor. The floor is plain cement. Wooden-framed notice boards have been hung on the top half of both walls. In the background there is a flight of stairs with cement steps.
Shaista sits behind a teak-coloured wooden table, writing in a large, slim notebook. An open textbook of the same size sticks out from beneath the notebook. Behind her are shelves built into the pista green wall. They have wooden frames and are covered with sliding glass panels. Piles of notebooks and textbooks have been placed on the shelves. A pair of aluminium crutches leans against one of the glass panels.
Shaista sits on the plain cement steps of a stairway. Her crutches are propped up against the emerald green wall. Her eyes are closed, her mouth is half open as she sings, and she has raised both her arms. In her right hand she holds a mobile phone.
Shaista and her father Haji Hussain (45) sit side by side on a varnished tan wooden bench with arm rests and back rest. Hussain wears grey trousers and a pale pink full-sleeved shirt. He has a salt-and-pepper straggly beard and moustache. Shaista is dressed in her peach kurta, black denims and blue dupatta. The outside light shines on their faces and turns the green wall behind them almost black.
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“Singing is more than a hobby. It is my identity and I want to nurture my talent”

When Vicky Roy encountered Shaista Parveen on the premises of the NGO Cheshta at Raxaul in Bihar, he wasn’t aware that he was going to photograph a minor celebrity! The 18-year-old from Motihari in East Champaran district is a well-known singer, and when she performs with her three younger siblings they are popularly known as the Motihari Sisters. Their father Haji Hussain is a driver. Cheshta’s founder Sister Grace said the organisation partly supported Shaista’s schooling and surgical care (she was born with a locomotor disability). “She is a very zealous, ambitious and hardworking girl,” says Sister Grace.
 
At home her mother Ruksana Khatun was always humming and singing and Hussain too was interested in music, and this is what piqued her own interest, says Shaista. She was in Grade 6 when her teacher asked all the students to prepare some item they could perform. She refused because she was too shy to go on stage but her teacher insisted, saying, “You have an unusual voice. Why don’t you try practising singing?” That day, Shaista came home and started trying out the Lata Mangeshkar song ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’. She practised hard and her performance was a success. Her younger sister Shahina Khatun was motivated to do likewise. The teacher took a video of the duo singing and posted it on social media.
 
That was when Amal Dev, who plays the harmonium and whom Shaista refers to as dada (elder brother), saw the video and expressed an interest in meeting the sisters. “We didn’t know that dada’s house was right behind ours!” she exclaims. The sisters got together with Amal, formed a troupe, and started performing in local events. Pretty soon their sisters Sanjeeda Khatun and Nainsi Parveen followed in their footsteps. Their fame slowly spread until Jantantra TV in Noida invited them to its studio in early 2024.
 
The TV anchor gushed about the “Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb” (the syncretic culture of the central plains) as the sisters sang bhajans about Ram and Hanuman. When she delicately enquired whether they faced any resistance from people, Shaista replied, “Our parents fully support us. There are some people in society who raise objections but we don’t listen to them.” Hussain says, “When I realised my children could sing I felt very happy. I always encourage them to make the most of their talent. I feel proud when people praise them.”
 
Shaista is pursuing a degree in Commerce and after completing one year at Khemchand Tarachand College she now goes for coaching classes. She wakes up at 5 a.m. to go for classes, returns to complete household chores and then practises singing. She likes reading mystery stories and books by Indian philosophers, and draws inspiration from Dr Abdul Kalam’s autobiography ‘Wings of Fire’.
 
“My favourite performance is for the annual Saraswati puja programme in which I sing every year,” says Shaista. “When I go on stage I feel devi Saraswati herself is standing beside me and blessing me. I consider singing a gift from the goddess.” She says she still has a long way to go and she wants to work hard to nurture her talent. Hussain says, “I wish my children become famous singers and fulfill their dreams. They are the reason for my happiness.” Sister Grace too prays that “God help these beautiful children pave the way for a bright future.”


Photos:

Vicky Roy

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